


Tanuki

by ichiharu23



Category: Sengoku Basara
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-02-10
Packaged: 2018-05-19 13:34:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5969083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ichiharu23/pseuds/ichiharu23
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They had gone to a petting zoo. And it wasn’t entirely unexpected, but Masamune was now staring at Ieyasu sitting at a bench in the shade of the trees, with a crowd of fluffy winter tanuki crawling all over him, all trying to reach the feed in a small plastic bag he held in one hand.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tanuki

They had gone to a petting zoo. And it wasn’t entirely unexpected, but Masamune was now staring at Ieyasu sitting at a bench in the shade of the trees, with a crowd of fluffy winter tanuki crawling all over him, all trying to reach the feed in a small plastic bag he held in one hand.

“Ahaha! That’s ticklish! Stop it!” Ieyasu laughed, his hand holding the feed sticking out at a weird angle as he shook around to save himself from a crowd of many paw pads and little snouts nuzzling at him from all directions.

Masamune wasn’t sure whether he should laugh with him or worry for him drowning in the pile of brown fur, so he just put a hand on his hip and asked.

“ _You okay_? I’m here if you need help.”

“No, no! I’m fine. Hahaha!” His friend answered him as he continued laughing, one of the smaller tanuki behind him managing to crawl over his head to his face, trying to bring down his arm from there.

Masamune just sighed and smiled. It had been a while since Ieyasu laughed this much, so he might as well let him enjoy himself some more. The latter gently removed the young tanuki from his face and gave it some of the feed.

Once he finished distributing all the feed he had, the soft balls of fluff dispersed from around him back into the fields. A few decided to hang around, snuggling up warmly next to him as if to thank him for the food. Masamune took a seat at the now emptied bench.

“Dang. You bought so much feed. How did it all finish in one go?” Masamune asked, looking at him.

“Because good food makes everyone happy. Pretty sure they loved it,” Ieyasu laughed, having fun. He pulled the tanuki snuggling next to him onto his lap and began to pat and stroke it gently. The brown fuzz purred slightly in return.

Masamune watched a tanuki jump off the side of their bench and walk around his legs, probably sniffing for any remnants of food. He picked it up and looked at it. The fluff stared back at him in a docile, laid back manner, sniffing a little at his hands.

“You know, Ieyasu… These tanuki… They kinda resemble you.”

“Hmm~ Really? Which part? The cute part?” Ieyasu joked with a grin. Masamune threw him a glance, before looking back at the fluffy brown mammal in his hand.

“Yes, the cute part. That cute, round face you just want to kiss,” Masamune said, matter-of-factly.

“A-Ah…? W-Wait, you’re just picking on me again, aren’t you, Dokuganryu…?” Ieyasu asked him a little suspiciously. Masamune smirked back at him.

“ _Nope_ , I’m afraid this time I’m not!”

“………,” Ieyasu pouted, turning away to hide the light blush that had begun creeping up his cheek.

“And also…,” Masamune continued, turning back to look at the tanuki he was holding, its shiny innocent eyes blinking back at him.

“And also… what…?” Ieyasu asked softly, his hand stopping to stroke the tanuki on his lap as his fingers curled in nervously.

_‘And also the folktale that the tanuki are very good at deceiving others…’_

Masamune didn’t say it.

Ieyasu certainly smiled everyday, but he had heard from the ones around him how he seemed to be shouldering everything on his own. How he never said a word about anything that bothered him. How he kept everything bottled up inside until it corrupted his sunshine of a smile into a fake broken one. One that even _he_ could tell was nothing but a mask.

Masamune couldn’t even imagine how long Ieyasu had succeeded in keeping it all hidden under the surface until it had finally reached the boiling point where anyone could see through all his lies that he was okay. Where anyone could see him crying inside.

So Masamune had dragged him out all the way here into the mountains, hoping to mend him. And he swore that he won’t let his friend go until his real smile had returned to him.

“And also the fact that they love to eat,” he answered Ieyasu’s question after he left him hanging for awhile.

“Huh?” Ieyasu looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“You heard me right,” Masamune stood up and placed the tanuki he was holding back onto the ground, before straightening and smiling back at his friend.

 “Let’s go home, man. Heard you like my cooking, so I’ll cook up something for you. Hope you can stomach a lot because I’ll be cooking mountains of meat!”

Ieyasu’s face suddenly lit up and he beamed at him.

“Whoa, Dokuganryu! You would? On what occasion are you being so nice?”

“Just say that I’m in a good mood and want to be caring to my friends every once in awhile,” Masamune grinned, sticking out a hand to him. Ieyasu returned the tanuki on his lap to the bench and took Masamune’s hand gladly.

“…Thank you.”

He stood up and they walked home together.

“Oh, and the tanuki liked to be patted, too. I have my suspicions that you’re similar on that side, so I’ll pat you a lot when we get back.”

“Oh, Dokuganryu, hahaha!”

“And maybe we should invite Chosokabe. Party’s not complete without the party animal, man.”

“Dang, Motochika–…! Haha, things might turn wild if you invite him! Ahaha!”

“Yes, continue laughing, Ieyasu!”


End file.
